Linda’s agony
Loose Women star Linda Robson, 59, opens up about her daughter’s heartbreaking illness
Anyone who watches Loose
Women will know what a devoted mum actress and presenter Linda Robson is. Regularly talking about her children – Lauren, 34, Louis, 24, and Roberta, 20 – the much-loved panellist has never been afraid to share family anecdotes. But when Linda recently revealed to her costars that her oldest daughter, Lauren, has suffered with an eating disorder, she looked almost lost for words. Opening up during a candid discussion about body image, the actress shared her agony at watching her then-teenage daughter battle with bulimia, the disorder in which sufferers vomit up their meals in an effort to stay slim.
She told her fellow panellists, ‘Lauren was quite a chubby child through her teenage years. She didn’t eat very healthily at school. First she started going on diets, but nothing seemed to work.’
The mum-of-three was shocked to discover the lengths to which her daughter had gone to lose weight.
‘I found out she had bulimia. She was making herself sick all the time. I was so worried about it, and I took her to the doctor to try to help. Every time she went to the toilet, I was listening outside,’ she said.
Linda went on to explain how the ordeal was made all the worse when Lauren was shockingly told by a modelling agency that she needed to ‘ lose weight’ – despite being only a size 8.
‘ We immediately said no and walked out,’ she recalled.
Linda has spoken about Lauren’s eating disorder before, and told her Loose Women co-stars that, at times, she worried she may have been partly responsible for it.
During an earlier appearance on Loose Women, Linda confided, ‘I do worry that I’ve spent most of my life on one diet or another. Lauren had bulimia a few years ago and I used to worry, “I hope it wasn’t to do with me dieting.” But I’m only ever positive to the kids if they want to go on a diet – I’ll help them.’
Fortunately, these painful days are now behind them, as Lauren made a full recovery and is now a proud mum to two daughters – Lila, four, and five-month-old Betsy. How thankful Linda must be.
‘I was worried sick about it. Every time she went to the toilet, I was listening outside’